Stock reel speed control mechanism



Dec. 29, 1953 FRlEDMAN 2,664,250

STOCK REEL SPEED CONTROL MECHANISM Filed May 24, 1950 lllllllIlIIIIIl-IINVENTOR.

JOHN FEIFDMAN llhl mm. mw-op ww umreo 'rr Patented Dec. 29, 1953 actressTENT OFFECE National Machinery Company, Tiflin, Ohio, a.

corporation of Ohio Application May 24, 195 0 SerialNo. 163,851

1 Claims.

. This invention relates to a reelfor supporting coiled wire stool; andmore particularly to a stock supporting reel including power meansarranged to uncoil the stock and advance the stock toward a machineusing the same at a rate corresponding to the requirements of themachine.

in a high rate of unwinding of the coiled stock. Another improvement inthis art relates to the use of much larger and heavier coils of wire.

stock so as to reduce the frequency of shutting down the machine forstarting a new coilof stock. The increase in the speed of unwinding andthe use of larger coils has introduced certain disadvantagesparticularly where the speed and rate of feed of the machine using thestock is subject to variations. It will be appreciated that when amachine, such as a nail machine, is operating at a rate of 1200 nailsper minute and is unwinding from a heavy coil of wire stock the rotatingstock coil has considerable inertia and when the speed and rate of feedof the machine using the stock is reduced the stock coil tends tocontinue to turn and unwind the stool: with the result that the excessunwound stock 'may cause tangling of the stock. A further disadvantagehas developed in connection with. the larger coils in that it isnecessary for the feed mechanism on the machine using the stock tohasrlimited the sizevof coil that. might be used.

tI-t is among the objects of the-present invention to provide a stockreel support and a feed ing mechanism for the coiled stock support onthe reel so that the coiled stock is unwound and fedto the machine usingthe same at a rate determined by the machine requirements.

It is a further object of'my invention to :pro- 3, yidea stockreel witha power unit anda variable speed control device between the power unitand the reel so constructed and arranged tha h ed o :uncoiline s a omatca .variedin response tothe changesin the requiremachinefs operation.

2 ments of the machine using the stock so that a stock coil weighingseveral tons may be used and the machine operated continuously forseveral hours with a single supply of wire.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a stock reel and stockfeeding mechanism wherein the stock coming oh the reel is guided througha pivoted arm so arranged with respect to the machine using the stockthat the position of the arm is varied by variations in the demand forstock in the machine using the uncoiled stock and wherein the changes inthe positon of the pivoted arm change the rotational speed of the stockreel. V i i It is a further object of my invention to provide a stockhandling apparatus according to the preceding objects wherein theunwinding of the stock and feeding the same to a machine is carried outin a manner compensating for the differences in diameter between theouter convolution of the stock in a coil and the innermost convolutionof said coil.

Further objects and advantages relating to economies in manufacture andefficiency in operation will appear from the following description andappended drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a stock reel and feeding mechanism constructedaccording to my invention; and

Fig. '2 is an elevation with parts in section of the stock reel andstock feeding apparatus.

Referring to the drawings, a base I is provided with an upright pedestal2 for rotatably supporting the vertical shaft 3 which carries in itsupper end a stocl; reel support i having a lower flange 5 and an uprighttubular section B. The

nected andused for several hours withoutinterrupting the operation ofthe machine.

Machine's employed for making the bolts,

rivets, nails and the like usually include a stock feed mechanismmounted on the bed frame and operated in timed relation to the headerslide movements so as to advance the proper length of stockinto themachine for each cycle of the Such conventional. stock feeding mechanismis indicated at it and includes stock-feed rolls, as at llQwhich areinterm tent r ta ed b th dr in me han s 12 sojas'toia'dvance'alength'ofstock for each cycle of the operation of the machine. The stock beingunwound and advanced by the feed mechanism is is indicated at 13 andsuch stock is guided as it is being unwound through the fork it carriedby the pivoted arm 55 and, as will be understood as this descriptionproceeds, the position of the arm i5 determines the rate at which thestock will be unwound from the stock reels 8 and 9.

A vertically-extending supporting plate i6 is secured on the base ibeneath the reel support table t and at one side of the plate i6 issupported a motor ll and at the other side of the plate is supported aspeed change mechanism indicated as at it. The rotation of the motor istransmitted by belt 9 to the input shaft 23 of the speed changemechanism. The output shaft 2! at the top of the speed change mechanismincludes a pulley and drive through belt 22 to a driven pulley carriedby the reel support The speed change device it includes an operating Apair of adjusting screws 26 and 2'? are arranged :1

adjacent the inner end of the pivoted arm it so as to limit the range ofpivotal movement of the arm [5. The motion of the arm 15 is transmittedto the controlling arm 23 by an adjustable linl: 23 connected at one endto the arm i5 and at the other end to the arm 23.

It will be noted that the angle at which the stock being unwound fromthe reel is disposed with respect to the feed mechanism IE3 and the yokeis of the arm 15 is such that an increase in the tension of the unwoundstock between the reel 8 and the feed mechanism tends to swing the arm55 in a counterclockwise direction, whereas a decrease in the tension inthis section of unwound stock permits the arm 15 to swing downwardly ina clockwise direction to a position as indicated in the dotted lines ofFig. 2. Thus, it will be understood that an increase in the speed of thefeed mechanism 55, as would occur when the machine using the stock wasbeing accelerated, will put an additional pull on the stock beingunwound from the reel and thus swing the arm 55 in a counter-clockwisedirection to increase the output speed and hence the speed of reelrotation. Conversely when the feed mechanism it is decelerated orbrought to a stop, the arm iii will move in a clockwise direction andthus decrease and/or eventually stop the rotation of the output member2!. Although the speed change mechanism !8 illustrated is of theself-contained hydraulic type, it will be understood that other types ofspeed change devices may be employed such as, for instance, variablepitch v pulley and belt arrangements. It will also be appreciated thatthe movement of the arm i5 may be utilized to operate an excitationcontroller for a variable speed electric motor.

Although I have shown and described one form of my invention inconsiderable detail, it will be appreciated that numerous changes can bemade therein without departing from the scope of the invention asdefined in the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a coiled wire stock feeding apparatus a base having a verticallydisposed pedestal, a wire stock support mounted on said pedestal forrotation about a vertical axis, a coil of wire stock on said supportarranged to be unwound by the rotation thereof, a power unit mounted onsaid base, a speed change device mounted on said base, said speed changedevice having a constant rotational speed input shaft connected to saidpower unit, an output shaft operatively connected to said support and aspeed control lever movable from an off position which stops therotation of the output shaft to variable on positions determining therotational speed of the output shaft, a guide lever pivoted on said baseat one end thereof on a horizontal axis, said guide lever extendinglaterally and upwardly from said horizontal axis whereby said guidelever turns downwardly about said axis in response to gravity, meansconnecting said guide lever and said control lever to move said controllever to stop position as said guide lever turns to its lowered positionand a wire guide at the other end of said lever enga ing the wire afterbeing unwound from said coil, the tension in said wire effecting anupwardly turning movement of said guide lever and thereby increasing thespeed of said output shaft.

2. A coiled wire stock feed apparatus responsive to demand of a wirefeed mechanism comprising a vertically disposed pedestal, a rotatablesupport journalled in said pedestal on a vertical axis, a coil of wirestock carried by said support, a stock guide pivotally mounted adjacentsaid support on a horizontal axis, said stock guide extending from itsmounting on said support to engage the wire stock after being unwoundfrom the stock coil, said guide being disposed at one side of itspivotal support and being moved in response to gravity to changes indemand by said feed mechanism effecting changes in the tension in thatlength of wire stock between the coil and said feed mechanism, a powerunit operatively connected to said support to rotate the same and meansop-eratively connecting said guide and said power unit whereby movementof said guide in response to increased tension re sulting from anincrease in demand by said feed mechanism increases the rotational speedof said support and movement of said guide in the absence of such demandby said feed mechanism stops the rotation of sail. support.

3. In a coiled Wire stock feeding apparatus a base having a pedestal, awire stock support mounted on said pedestal for rotation relativethereto, a coil of wire stock on said support arranged to be unwound bythe rotation thereof, a power unit mounted on said base, a speed changedevice mounted on said base, said speed change device having a constantrotational speed input shaft connected to said power unit, an outputshaft operatively connected to said support and a speed control meansmovable from an off position which stops rotation of the output shaft tovariable on positions determining the rotational speed of the outputshaft, said speed control means including a guide lever pivoted on saidbase biased in one direction formed with a wire guide engaging the wireafter being unwound from said coil, the tension in said wire effectingturning movement of said guide lever in the other direction and therebyincreasing the speed of said output shaft.

i. In a coiled wire stock feeding apparatus a base having a pedestal, awire stock support mounted on said pedestal for rotation relativethereto, a coil of wire stock on said support arranged to be unwound bythe rotation thereof, a

5 power unit mounted on said base, a speed change device mounted on saidbase, said speed change device having a constant rotational speed inputshaft connected to said power unit, an output shaft operativelyconnected to said support and a speed control means movable from an offposition which stops rotation of the output shaft to variable onpositions determining the rotational speed of the output shaft, saidspeed control means including a control member biased in one directionformed with a wire guide engaging the wire after being unwound from saidcoil, the tension in said Wire effecting movement of said control memberin the other direction and thereby increasing the speed of said outputshaft.

JOHN H. FRIEDMAN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date Power Dec. 5, 1916 Borton Oct. 26, 1937 Reil Feb. 21, 1950FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Jan. 15, 1931

